Cost of raising children shoots up putting huge pressure on families

Irish Independent

13-05-2025

It now costs families around €15,000 a year to bring up a child in this country.
This is up 39pc in the last 10 years, research by Laya Life, a division of Laya Healthcare, has found.
Nappies and baby formula are showing the largest increases, with a huge rise in pocket money and food costs for families with teens.
Higher costs for families reflect the relentless inflation that has caused a cost-of-living crisis for all households, due to Covid restrictions and the energy shock caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in particular.
However, there has been a big fall in the costs for families of Communions and Confirmations, possibly indicating a move away from religious observance.
Researchers at Laya Life looked at the cost of supporting a child from birth to college age.
They found a sharp rise in the cost of everything from nappies and food to rent support.
The survey, which questioned 1,000 parents as part of the Cradle to College Cost Index, found the most financially demanding years for parents were the first year of a child's life, and their teenage years.
Among the major cost increases for parents were food, which has seen a 61pc increase in the past decade.
Food has been costed at €5,148 a year for a child, up from €3,197 a decade ago.
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Pocket money has risen by 37pc to €4,536 a year from €3,320.
But there has been a fall in spending on discretionary items such as holidays.
Spending on breaks is down 35pc compared with 10 years ago.
Expenditure on gifts for life events such as Communions was also lower.
And spending on third-level education had also fallen, with 16pc less spent by households.
This possibly reflects the fact that recent Budgets have seen a €1,000 reduction in the student contribution fees.
Future planning has improved.
One in two parents make a savings plan to cover future costs associated with supporting their children. That was up from one in three in the last index, Laya said.
Head of Laya Life JP Hughes said: 'This increase in the cost of raising a child over the past decade reinforces the value of financial planning for Irish parents.
'Understanding long-term financial security is key, and families need to consider how they can best protect themselves against future uncertainties.'
More than half of Irish parents said they planned to help out with their child's future purchase of their home.
Some 30pc of parents expect to support their children until they are 25 or older.
The research found that seven in 10 parents say they put too much pressure on themselves to give their children everything.
Despite the high costs of raising children, only half of the parents who responded to the survey have made a savings plan to cover the future costs of supporting their children until they are old enough to support themselves.
But this is an improvement compared with the last Laya Cradle to College Cost Index where only one in three parents had a future savings plan.
Laya Life conducted the survey as it offers life insurance and mortgage protection.